Obesity has become an ever-increasing health problem. While such voluntary weight reduction programs as dieting and exercise have been helpful for some, many obese persons have required surgery to address their obesity problem. Two such surgical procedures are vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) and the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure. Both such procedures are now well known, but they are invasive in nature and involve reducing the size of the stomach. The parent patent application describes novel methods and devices for treating obesity by disrupting the vagal nerve. Because an incompletely disrupted vagal nerve still control appetite and certain stomach functions, there is a need to test the function and disruption of the vagal nerve.